Timothy Parent is the founder of China Fashion Bloggers and has followed Shanghai Fashion Week for 15 seasons and Fashion Now in Beijing for six seasons. In his latest Fashion Column for That’s, he talks about the innovative ways designers are presenting their collections at today's fashion shows.
The idea of a ‘fashion show’ is a rather
loose one. There are innumerable
ways to present a new collection, so
the fashion show itself has become
another mode through which designers
can communicate their vision and
creativity. So while most brands and
platforms stick with the defaults, some
designers are pushing the boundaries of
what a fashion show is and could be.
Fashion Show Alternatives
Some international designers like Gareth Pugh have successfully experimented with video as an alternative to the traditional runway show, creating a more controlled yet simultaneously malleable environment through which their collection is understood.
For Fall/Winter 2017, the designers participating in Beijing’s Fashion Now produced a video and an exhibition in lieu of fashion shows. In particular, Chictopia’s video to present her FW17 collection gave a stronger sense of her sensibilities than simply seeing the clothes on the runway, as it provided context and additional layers of meaning to the clothing. Her video collaboration entitled SUBFICTION with video artist NO. 223 in Beijing perfectly portrays the quirky chic aesthetic of the brand, and renders the clothes in a more artistic yet palpable lifestyle. And although the exhibitions in Fashion Now were more static, they allowed the audience the closest possible encounter with the clothes outside of a showroom.
In the past few seasons, Labelhood has also pushed presentations as a well-received alternative to fashion shows because they are more intimate and often allow you to walk around, changing the experience from something passive to something active. A presentation also affords the designer greater flexibility with contextual elements such as set design or runway choreography that can add an element of surprise to something that in the past has remained rather formulaic and predictable.
Lastly, a fashion show can also be a performance, which is another format that Labelhood experimented with this season.Asian Dope Boys, Yang Li and Angel Chen all swapped models for musicians this season to bring their collections to life, giving people a deeper, more meaningful impression of their clothes and who’s wearing them.
There are no rules to fashion, so similarly there are no rules to fashion shows
Best of the Season
Hands down the best show this season was Sankuanz’s exploration of science and religion at what the designer dubbed "Centre Sankuanz." The entire experience was a combination of exhibition and performance, with no traditional runway in sight. Guests were greeted by a small grass field inside a pavilion of concrete and glass, followed by a long black box that housed an exhibition of the designer’s latest collection and multiple video presentations. After the exhibition there was another more traditional exhibition of the designer’s NASA-inspired collection, along with a pop-up shop where attendees could make purchases directly. The experience continued with giant plastic bubbles dotting a soccer field filled with glitter, leading into the performance area where five different artists performed music that was perfectly aligned with the Sankuanz brand… and the entire area was filled with China’s cool kids, completing the vibe.
But the real reason I believe this to be
unequivocally the best show this season is
because the experience almost made me cry.
There was a performance that incorporated
light, motion and music that simultaneously
expressed the tension and harmony between
man and machine. To describe it would be
a disservice, but Sankuanz himself was also
deeply moved when he first saw the performance,
and his decision to incorporate art
into his brand not only elevated the experience,
but also made it more human.
Museum of Friendship, Xu Zhi, FFIXXED,Hiuman and Wanbing Huang were some
of my other favorite shows this season.
Museum of Friendship showed her strongest
collection yet with the help of some fake
but convincingly slippery snow; while Xu
Zhi showed perhaps the most beautiful yet
wearable clothes at a presentation where
models played instruments and sang for
the audience. FFIXXED brought back some
signature looks but updated them with fresh
new colors, but the real genius is in the
humor of the products themselves. You’ll
have to wait until AW17 to see for yourself…
Hiuman switched directions and introduced
luxurious yet playful materials, like super
shiny velvets and Japanese polyesters, while
Wanbing Huang developed her own materials
like super-fine fishing wire and 3D-printed
plastics to create a striking but unexpected
portrayal of hope.
What’s Next?
Fashion shows are here to stay, but the definition of a show will become even more vague. There are no rules to fashion, so similarly there are no rules to fashion shows. But one consideration for brands and designers is how people see or interact with a fashion show. Previously, shows were inaccessible to the general public, but now pictures, video and even livestreams are making fashion more accessible and immediate than ever, but it can also serve to dilute the experience as well. Technology has changed the way we see and consume fashion forever, but often the context is lost. So if fashion is more than just the clothes, how do we see more than just the image?
Timothy Parent can also be found at www.chinafashionbloggers.com. See more of his Fashion Columns.
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